Capitalbay Information Portal: Outrage on social media over prank
Outrage on social media over prank
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CapitalBay Online on 12/07/2012 06:37:00
The 2Day FM Facebook post about the prank has been removed. STORY HIGHLIGHTS
*Radio hosts blamed after nurse's death *Twitter accounts, Facebook posts for
DJs deleted after stunt *The hashtag #royalprank had trended shortly after the
radio stunt
(CNN) -- One of the nurses duped by a prank phone call about Catherine, Duchess
of Cambridge, apparently committed suicide on Friday, and many social media
users were quick to point fingers at the two radio hosts who made the call and
then promoted it on Facebook.
Australian radio station 2DayFM posted audio of the prank call on its Facebook
page Wednesday with the caption, "Listen to the prank that the world is talking
about. Can you believe Mel and MC got away with these dodgy accents?"
The hashtag #royalprank was retweeted more than 15,000 times on Twitter after
the radio station began promoting the call. It continued to be used after news
of the nurse's death.
Catherine, the pregnant wife of Britain's Prince William, had been hospitalized
with severe morning sickness. The prank became worldwide news as the nurse,
believing the DJs were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, forwarded the call to
a second nurse who eventually revealed details of the former Kate Middleton's
condition.
Concerns over privacy and the media, which had surfaced in England during the
News of the World scandal and again when topless photos taken of Catherine were
published, were quickly reignited.
But Prince Charles himself joked about the incident after being contacted by the
radio station. News of the prank was also widely shared on social networks, with
at least 5,000 links created and shared between Tuesday and Thursday.
At the time, royal commentator Robert Jobson said he did not believe the radio
call had been intended as a serious invasion of privacy.
The hospital identified the nurse as Jacintha Saldanha. As news of her death
spread, commenters flooded the 2DayFM Facebook page.
A user named Gary Dawson posted, "Shame for still having this sick call on
website!! Shame on the DJs and shame on the radio station."
At 10:54 a.m. ET, 700 comments had been posted since Wednesday. By 11:15 a.m.
ET, the number had risen to more than 1,100 and was still growing rapidly. The
Facebook page Hot30 Countdown, also used to promote the two DJs, did not have a
post about the prank, but that didn't stop people from commenting there.
The 2DayFM posts, including the audio of the prank, were deleted by 11:41 a.m.
Although it is unclear what scrutiny Saldanha had been under since the prank,
the hospital said in a statement that it had been supporting her. Neither police
nor the hospital publicly blamed the radio station for Saldanha's death.
At St. James's Palace, a spokesman said, "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are
deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha."
The Twitter account for radio host Michael Christian (@MContheradio) had
included five updates about the prank in the past 12 hours on Friday morning. By
11:22 a.m., the account had been deleted. The account for co-host Mel Greig
(@MelGreigHot30) was also deleted. The station and its parent company, Southern
Cross Austereo released the following:
"Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran has spoken with the presenters, they are
both deeply shocked and at this time we have agreed that they not comment about
the circumstances. SCA and the hosts have decided that they will not return to
their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be
described as a tragedy."
The full statement was also posted to the 2Day FM Facebook page and in one hour
received more than 4,400 comments and 234 shares. One comment linked to an
online petition to fire Greig and Christian. At the time of this writing it had
received 1,985 online signatures from around the world. The introduction states,
"Journalists should be held to higher standards."
But there were also calls for a step back from the immediate tragedy.
"Do you know why patriots like myself defend this kind of speech until my dying
breath?" posted a CNN commenter. "To find that answer, ask yourself this: Who
decides what kind of speech is appropriate or inappropriate? Who decides what
kind of speech is offensive or not? What if you have the power to decide? At
what point does an opinion that differs from yours become offensive to you? And
what will be the penalty for my supposed offense?
"We can never afford to go down the road if defining right speech from wrong
speech. It throws everything else into doubt and opens the doorway for tyrants
and the fringe to persecute those who are not like minded.
"The nurse, for whatever personal reasons she might have clearly over-reacted.
It is sad. But that is all it is. Nobody should be prosecuted or penalized over
this."
Others fired back, arguing that not all speech is protected and that no one has
immunity from the negative effects of reckless actions. Still others said the
discussion was pointless, since "Australia does not have explicit freedom of
speech in any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights"
"Here's a social experiment for you," wrote James Breen on the Hot30 Countdown
page. "Try treating people with common decency and respect."
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